nexus_crossings | Lockdown Brings out Old muses

Lockdown Brings out Old muses

[ooc: his current timeline is pre-"Final Problem", also rusty muse is rusty, apologies.]

There's a new person in the Nexus today. A very confused new person, who isn't sure exactly how he got here. Could be drugs. No, it can't be drugs. He has been more or less in lockdown during his detox, unable to access any drugs of any kind. John isn't even allowing him paracetamol right now. Which makes his detox headaches nearly too much to handle. Maybe that's what this place is...

Could be his mind palace, though it has never appeared like this before. He shakes his head to clear it of that idea.

He looks around, with complete confusion on his features. He reads the signs and takes in the population wandering around. None of it really takes away the confusion upon his features. He's not sure how to react to the information he's being flooded with...

His lips twitch as a song comes to mind. Lestrade had been the last person he remembered 'babysitting' him. He had brought a collection of music for them to listen to, so they could pass the time. So, one of those lyrics came to mind "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?"

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Sherlock smirks. "So you do know me."

Which is all he really needs to say. Sherlock looks up.... and then has to step out and look at the height of the building... and then he steps back in. Something from his childhood surfaces. "Dimensionally transcendental..."

Of course, he's deleted where he's heard it before. Couldn't identify it as being from Doctor Who. But then, "Everything looks bigger on the inside to a child. So, they are playing on our emotions."

Or his mind palace is. He hasn't decided yet.

"I know of you, Detective." This man doesn't look like the Sherlock Holmes he's familiar with, but Aziraphale has been in the Nexus long enough to know that people don't always look as you think they might when they're coming from another world. That razor sharp analytical wit is certainly the same, and that's good enough for him.

Would it be weird to say that he's read all of the books he's in? Yes, probably. He'll keep that to himself.

Aziraphale does not get the reference, either. Crowley has been slowly introducing him to modern film and television, but Doctor Who has not made it on the list yet. Shame, that. Aziraphale would really like the Tenth Doctor. "I've never been a child, but it does evoke a sense of wonder, doesn't it? I've spent entire days in here. I'd spend longer than that, but I have a partner who drags me out if I'm here too long."

The books are quite different, so he could mention them, but Sherlock would probably interpret it as someone taking John's blog and writing books. Well, depending upon how it was mentioned, anyway.

"Not sure I'd say wonder. Curiosity, certainly. Partner who drags you out? Why would anyone drag someone away from a library?"

Hearing about a fictionalized, 19th century version of himself would probably not help with establishing the Nexus as a real place, so Aziraphale doesn't bother. He does pay a bit more attention to Sherlock's mannerisms, however, wondering what else the detective might have in common with his alternate.

The question makes him chuckle. "Yes, well, I'd spend weeks in here if he didn't come fetch me. I get distracted by books so easily, but I'd feel positively dreadful if I neglected him for that long."

Probably not as much in common as people like to think. He's more of an arse, to start with.

"Again, I don't see a problem with that. But you say partner... do angels work in pairs these days?"

What does Sherlock know? Technically, he's a Christian. But it's not like he actually practices his faith, beyond the 'big life events'.

"Uh..." There are a number of things to correct in Sherlock's question. He decides to start with the easiest and work his way up.

"When I said partner, I meant romantically. As for angels working in pairs... well, that's not uncommon, actually, but my partner isn't an angel. He's a demon."

He glances at Sherlock, curious how the man will react. It's always easier to explain this sort of thing after a person has met Crowley.

"I... Thought angels were pure spirits and had no need for.... romantic entanglements."

His opinion of angels is plummeting by the moment. And that's without addressing the demon part. First things first.

"Well, that is the case for all other angels, but none of them have lived on Earth for over six thousand years as I have. And I have known my partner for just as long."

He can sense Sherlock's disapproval. It's something he expects from other angels, although no one in the Nexus has had an issue with his relationship before. "Not your cup of tea, I take it?"

Sherlock doesn't like that answer for many reasons. "I consider myself married to my work. I thought angels did as well..."

It's not a specific disapproval, he's not into relationships in general.

"In a sense, we are our work, as we were created for a specific purpose." To varying dogmatic degrees. "But you, dear fellow, are human. An exceptional human, but human nonetheless. Not that it requires you to be interested in romance, but you do have free will to pursue more than simply your career."

"Unless my Sunday School teachers were wrong, angels have Free Well too. Otherwise, what was the point of the lesson of Lucifer?"

He doesn't normally talk religion or theology. But nothing else in this place makes any sense, so why not?

Aziraphale discusses theology in the Nexus far less often than one might expect from an angel, but it's an interesting question to discuss. "Let's put aside the accuracy of your Sunday School teachers for the moment. I've yet to come across a religion that gets all the facts right. But it's not the same sort of free will. Lucifer fell because he rebelled. Humans make all sorts of decisions, good and bad, but even the bad ones don't necessarily condemn them."

He pauses a moment, twisting the ring on his pinky finger. "It's not easy for an angel to not do what he's told. The punishment can be severe. And I don't mean Falling, only God can do that. Heaven has other methods to keep angels in line."

"You have my attention. Explain more. How is free will different for angels? And what kinds of punishments are you talking about?"

Honestly, Mycroft and 'The East Wind' was enough to terrify Sherlock when he was little. But this... this is far bigger somehow. And he's not convinced that Aziraphale is an angel, so the conversation is as much about sussing that out than anything else.

"Angels were created to serve God's Plan. Nothing more, nothing less. And for a very long time, the assumption was that Her plan included Armageddon. This didn't sit well with either me or my partner. We had both become very fond of Earth and its inhabitants and did not want to see the whole thing turned into a flaming ball of cinder."

He sighs and fidgets with his ring.

"We did actively try to stop Armageddon... our role in the actual success is debatable, but regardless. Heaven and Hell did not approve, especially when they learned how long my partner and I had been working together. My partner -- Crowley -- had a farce of a trial. Death by holy water. I was simply expected to walk into a pillar of Hellfire like a good little soldier. You see, there are very few things that can truly exterminate either an angel or a demon. Heaven wanted to execute me for my crimes. That's an extreme example, but I hope that gives you a sense of what can happen if an angel doesn't listen to his superiors."

Yeah, Sherlock isn't buying any of this. "Bollocks! Death and destruction are a result of Man's Fall and free will, not because God wanted to destroy. What's the point of creating just to destroy?"

He paces away for a few steps and then paces back. "I don't know who or what you are meant to represent, but it isn't the truth."

He pulls a hand across his mouth in agitation. He looks around the library and stares back at the supposed angel. Then he turns on his heal, his Bellstaff flaring out around him as he storms out of the library.

Aziraphale winces at the outburst, mostly because he'd prefer to not cause a scene at the library. It's a relief when Sherlock storms out, and after a moment's hesitation, he decides to follow.

"God didn't want to destroy anything," he calls out to the man's retreating back, once he's standing on the steps. "Her plan's ineffable, you know!"

He sighs and leaves it at that. The poor detective clearly needs to figure out what is real on his own, and an angel's presence likely doesn't help matters. Maybe the next time they cross paths, they can have a polite conversation.

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Lockdown Brings out Old muses

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